The Education Review Office is rolling out a colour-coded, four-tier rating system to evaluate school performance.
The agency stated that the new system would apply to ERO review reports for schools visited starting from Term 2, making it simpler for families to understand.
The revamped reports will rate schools as excelling, doing well, working towards it, or requiring improvement across 14 areas, using colour coding of dark green, light green, orange, and red.
The reports will open with a “snapshot” table displaying the number of areas where each school excels, is doing well, is working towards well, or requires improvement. They will then offer an overview of the school’s ratings across 14 areas, including student achievement, progress, teaching, reading and writing, maths, and attendance.
ERO last updated its school reporting format at the end of 2024, introducing brief descriptions of performance in key areas such as learner success and teaching quality.
It also added concise summaries of schools’ performance in reading, writing, maths, and attendance.
Education Minister Erica Stanford noted that parents had shared with her “key challenges facing our schools or the successes they’re achieving haven’t been evidenced through ERO’s reporting.”
Stanford said prior ERO reports had failed to emphasise details most relevant to parents, describing them as “dense” and “complicated” to understand.
“From Term 2, parents can expect more detail on almost twice as many topics,” she said.
“Reports will have clear measurements and strong, visual, easy-to-understand overviews of performance and the value that schools are adding for students.”
ERO Chief Review Officer Ruth Shinoda said the new reports would elevate education standards by delivering clear, useful, and accessible information to parents about schools.
“Crucially, they are more sharply focused on the things that make the biggest difference to learner success and wellbeing – including attendance, progress, achievement and assessment.”
Shinoda said they also serve as a critical tool for school leaders, helping them identify focus areas to boost student success.
“Ultimately these changes will drive improvement for education for every learner in New Zealand.”